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Episode 1022
On the 40th anniversary of the moon landing we sadly report on the state of the broken toilet in the International Space Station. It means astronauts have to split up which toilets they use in order to load balance. No. Seriously. Plus we touch on the Amazon 1984 ironic mistake of the year. Stories Covered Amazon remotely deletes all copies of George Orwell books http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/some-e-books-are-more-equal-than-others/ Amazon says it won't repeat Kindle book recall http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10290047-56.html Kazaa to return as subscription service http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10289985-93.html Meanwhile RIAA notices DRM is dead http://torrentfreak.com/drm-is-dead-riaa-says-090719/ Toshiba Will Sell Blu-ray Player This Year http://www.pcworld.com/article/168670/ Digg redirects short URLs to Digg http://mashable.com/2009/07/19/digg-twitter-links/ Could Apple really dictate iPhone terms to Verizon Wireless? http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=21320 Apple's iPhone "wrecking" the cell industry http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/13/apples_iphone_wrecking_the_cell_industry.html Kingston unveils 256GB thumb drive for well-heeled memory fiends http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/20/kingston-unveils-256gb-thumb-drive-for-well-heeled-memory-fiends/ Parajet SkyCar flying vehicle evolves, now ready for pre-orders http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/19/parajet-skycar-flying-vehicle-evolves-now-ready-for-pre-orders/ New space station toilet "out of order" http://news.cnet.com/8301-19514_3-10290381-239.html Alaskan Blob Is an Algae Bloom http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/20/1317248/Alaskan-Blob-Is-an-Algae-Bloom?from=rss French Spin http://www.frenchspin.com/ Voicemail Eric from Maryland about 1000 year DVDs Chris from Portland with Prius response. Emails Hey Buzz Crew, Interesting article on today's New York Times talking about why Japanese smartphones haven't gone global: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/technology/20cell.html?_r=1&src=twt&twt=nytimes Despite their great technological advance (the article cites e-mail capabilities in 1999, camera phones in 2000, third-generation networks in 2001, full music downloads in 2002, electronic payments in 2004 and digital TV in 2005), Japanese phones suffer from "Galapagos syndrome", meaning that they "are like the endemic species that Darwin encountered on the Gal?pagos Islands -- fantastically evolved and divergent from their mainland cousins" (citing a professor from Tokyo's Keio University). The article also makes an interesting point about how much Japanese manufacturers are focused on developing hardware and gave little or no attention to software, unlike western manufacturers (like Apple, with iTunes and the App Store)...which could be one of the reasons why Japanese manufacturers aren't successful internationally. Thought you would like to read it. Love the show. Henrique from Brazil ---- Hey Guys, I just wanted to let you hear from someone who appreciates ComcastBonnie. When I had my Comcast service installed, the tech didn't bring cablecards like requested. I twittered my frustration and within five minutes Bonnie replied asking if she could help. By the time we finished, she had the tech's supervisor call about the problem and offered to have someone drive the 20 miles to my house with cablecards on a Friday evening. She even called a few hours later to check up on the situation. So unless you are a total d-bag, she seems to do everything that she can to help. LTS, Tom the Sign Guy ---- I just received a phone call from Comcast's Executive PR Department this morning regarding my blog and Twitter posts. After a year of calling and begging for a technician I will now have a special "PR Repair Technician" come out first thing tomorrow morning and fix the lines. I now also have my own personal PR Liaison to call if I ever have any trouble again. Yes milking the situation was totally a douchey thing to do, but sometimes its the only way to get a giant company to actually listen to you. Cindy Wood, my liaison, did not even ask me to take my blog post down. Instead she wanted my input on to how they can make their Twitter support my effective since social media is a brave new world for them and they're learning as they go along. Even though I still hate Comcast, I like to give credit where its due and give them a shoutout for handeling the situation in a classy manner. I'm writting this from my phone since they managed to accidentally cut off my Internet access completely until tomorrow, so please excuse any typos Best, The Rocco After The Credits